Our door is hardly knocked now.
It opens and closes to laughter:
“Come in” shouted from living rooms.
There is a thought. A room alive!
And what makes it so, but living souls
Lounging half-aware in splendid daze?
Or rapt to some performance keen,
Waiting for our part: head-back-blast
Of air and joy mingling as one.
Living rooms may be sent to Earth’s end
Or come to mind years from now,
Reviving the old memories
(Who sat where or words of power).
Though nourishing for a time,
Memories soothe with greater pangs
And most wound where they would heal.
The wind is moving and the door
Swings wide upon its hinges.
Yet, we clutch a shared memory
Of still wider doors flung wide
And longings for that home to come
Satisfied at last by His “come in.”
Todd Anderson (Stuff of the Rind, Sand and Sail, The Reluctant Prophet) writes the newsletter Mirth to share a behind-the-scenes look at his writing process as well as to offer readers the first fruits of his poetry and reflections. He grew up in the forests of small-town Ontario, contending against nature in all its beauty and harshness. His training as a literary scholar of Latin and English literature inflects his love of poignant turns of phrase, but it is the influence of his family and their myriad adventures together that infuses his story-telling and poetry with its substance and power. Todd lives and writes in Ottawa with his wife and six children. If you are interested in supporting Todd’s work, please follow the links below to donate or buy his books.
Todd Edward Anderson 